Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) once again demanded that Senator Risa Hontiveros should return majority P1.7B Philhealth money spent during her campaign period.Former Philhealth Director, and now Senator Risa Hontiveros.

Former senator Ernesto Herrera, the group’s president, reminded Hontiveros that the Philhealth’s governing board “has a fiduciary duty to conserve hard-earned contributions of workers for current and future benefit payments.”

TUCP estimates that the 30-second Hontiveros commercials during the campaign period cost at least P442,000 plus value added tax for each time it airs.

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Herrera added that the money spent by Hontiveros on her ads would have been better spent to upgrade the health insurance benefits of its members, especially minimum wage workers and salaried employees, considering that all workers are mandated by law up to P437.50 to Philhealth, excluding the employee’s share.

The Vigilants Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) is also planning to file graft charges against the lady senator.

“Only few people actually knows that Sen. Risa Hontiveros spent millions if not billions of people’s money during her campaign period”, VACC said